Autumn Radtke, CEO of First Meta, was found dead in her Singapore home last week. Radtke, did business with major tech companies such as Verizon and Dell.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014, 1:40 PM

Autumn Radtke’s LinkedIn profile detailed her extensive experience in technology startups that did business with large companies such as Dell and Verizon.

A U.S.-born Bitcoin currency executive was found dead in an apparent suicide in her Singapore home, the company said in a statement.

Autumn Radtke, 28, CEO of First Meta, was found dead last week by local police in her home in what is believed to be a suicide, but police have yet to determine the cause of Radtke’s sudden death, CNBC reported.

Radtke had been in charge of the virtual currency company since 2012. She previously held top positions at companies that worked closely with giants such as Dell and Verizon, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“The First Meta team is shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and CEO Autumn Radtke,” First Meta said in a statement on its website. “Our deepest condolences go out to her family, friends and loved ones. Autumn was an inspiration to all of us and she will be sorely missed.”

Her profile was filled with ringing endorsements from former colleagues.

“Autumn Radtke offers a rare combination of business smarts and grace,” Brendan Kenney wrote regarding her time at Geodelic Systems. “She possesses an amazing ability to connect with people in a real way, building the type of confidence, trust and relationships that open up doors and get business done.”

The virtual currency Bitcoin has been in real turmoil lately following the hacking of Mt.Gox, one of the world’s largest companies in the industry.

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Autumn Radtke, CEO of First Meta, a Singapore-based Bitcoin company, was found dead at home Feb. 28.

Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy last month after a hacker stole roughly $500 million worth of the digital currency.

Her pal Katie Stone, with whom Radtke posted a Skype conversation in October, posted an emotional farewell to her dear friend on her Facebook page.

“You were the tough one, you were the one who bounced back and told me to do the same. I’m so deeply grateful that I knew you. And was able to share my passion with you,” Stone wrote. “I wish we could have had 50 more years of friendship.”

Autumn Radtke, the American chief executive of Singapore-based virtual currency company First Meta, has died according to Douglas Abrams, the company’s director and non-executive chairman. (MC-> “Prior to coming to Singapore, Douglas managed information technology at J.P. Morgan for 14 years.” – Source)

“I was informed by the Singapore police about her death,” Abrams told The Wall Street Journal Thursday. “The cause of death is still under investigation.”

Abrams said police yesterday told him that Radke, who was 28 years old, had died but he was unable to provide additional information about the circumstances of her death.

The company “is shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and CEO Autumn Radtke,” said a brief statement Abrams provided later, which was also posted on First Meta’s website.

An official in the Singapore Police Force’s public affairs department did not immediately respond to a phone call or email requesting comment.

According to First Meta’s website, Radke moved to Singapore in January 2012. Earlier, she worked in business development for Los Angeles-based mobile platform company Geodelic Systems and Internet gaming community Xfire, according to her LinkedIn profile.

First Meta provides an exchange where users can buy and sell virtual currencies. Forbes reported in 2012 that the company received $466,000 in funding from Sunnyvale, California-based business accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center and Singapore’s National Research Foundation.

[UPDATE: Tech in Asia has updated the article to emphasize that suicide is only suggested and not certain]

The last few weeks have been dismally littered with two things. The virtual losses of virtual wealth from virtual currency speculation and the very real losses of very real humans with very real senior financial services positions. Sadly, as NewsWatch reports, tonight sees the two trends converge as the 28-year-old CEO of Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange First Meta has been found dead. The exact reason that may have led to the suicide is not known, and whether the Police have concluded that the cause of death is suicide is also unofficial..

There have been 9 senior financial services deaths in recent weeks:

1 – William Broeksmit, 58-year-old former senior executive at Deutsche Bank AG, was found dead in his home after an apparent suicide in South Kensington in central London, on January 26th.

2- Karl Slym, 51 year old Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym, was found dead on the fourth floor of the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok on January 27th.

3 – Gabriel Magee, a 39-year-old JP Morgan employee, died after falling from the roof of the JP Morgan European headquarters in London on January 27th.

4 – Mike Dueker, 50-year-old chief economist of a US investment bank was found dead close to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State.

5 – Richard Talley, the 57 year old founder of American Title Services in Centennial, Colorado, was found dead earlier this month after apparently shooting himself with a nail gun.

6 -Tim Dickenson, a U.K.-based communications director at Swiss Re AG, also died last month, however the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown.

7 – Ryan Henry Crane, a 37 year old executive at JP Morgan died in an alleged suicide just a few weeks ago. No details have been released about his death aside from this small obituary announcement at the Stamford Daily Voice.

… But beneath it all, some say, Mt. Gox was a disaster in waiting. Last year, a Tokyo-based software developer sat down in Gox’s first-floor meeting room to talk about working for the company. “I thought it was going to be really awesome,” says the developer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Soon, however, there were some serious red flags. …

According to a leaked Mt. Gox document that hit the web last week, hackers had been skimming money from the company for years. The company now says that it’s out a total of 850,000 bitcoins, more than $460 million at Friday’s bitcoin exchange rates. When bitcoin enthusiast Jesse Powell heard this, he was reminded of June 2011.

According to Tech in Asia, Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange platform First Meta’s 28 year old CEO Autumn Radtke committed suicide.

Reasons are currently unknown.

First Meta is a Singaporean start up company that runs a exchange platform for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. The news of suicide of its CEO Autumn Radtke spread on Facebook and Twitter, drawing attention from the BItcoin industry.

The exact reason that may have led to the suicide is not known, and whether the Police have concluded that the cause of death is suicide is also unofficial. First Meta has stated that an official announcement will be given by the company soon.

Before joining First Meta, Radtke was the Director of Business Development at Xfire – a company that develops IM systems for GAMERS (my emphasis). Radtke was also the Co-founder, Business Development at Geodelic Systems, Inc. Source

Autumn was associated with gaming. Gamers keep coming up as a “theme”. Sean Smith one of the agents who was killed in Benghazi was a “gamer”. Edward Snowden was a “gamer”. There was another one or two “gamers” of news-note in between but can’t think of them at the moment.

From Linkedin:”In January 2012, at the age of 26 Autumn was recruited by prominent Singapore based investor Douglas Abrams to lead First Meta Exchange an early pioneer in digital banking and virtual currency.”

Douglas Abrahmsmanaged IT at JP Morgan for 14 yrs just prior to going to Singapore. He was also Global Markets Head of Internet Marketing, and VP and Manager of Investment Banking Technology. Source

Abrahms has a heavy-duty resume whereas Autumns (RIP) wasn’t what one would expect..and how did she know people like Branson…

Video of Autumn and more info – she was a great presenter and really knew her stuff:

One Response to Bitcoin CEO found dead in Singapore in apparent suicide (10th)

My brother went missing Nov 2014 and later was found dead. He died from a gunshot wound to the chest. No suicide letter. The gun was found 60 feet from his body wiped clean. After a year investigation Sherifs ruled it a suicide. My brother was a successful business man that dealt in bit coins. Our family does NOT believe at all that he killed himself. He is survived by a wife and 4 kids.